e were backing
into the street. Our car came to a stop, and Redhead changed gears.
I could see the other car with Isaac, Phil, and Steve. They were
backing out in front of us. It looked as if there were about 25
guys around and behind them. It didn’t bother them at all, even if
it meant backing out and running over them. They were leaving, and
that was it!

s we looked east on Story Road, I saw red lights flashing and
racing toward us. Also from the other direction and Senter Road we
saw red lights coming.

o how are we
going to get out of here? Redhead screamed.

looked around
to see where we could go, then I said "Go through the railroad
tracks!"

edhead stepped
on the gas and started down the tracks. It felt like a giant
vibrator, especially since I had a four-inch open wound on my head.
I was trying to hold my head as we were bumping down the railroad
tracks. It seemed like a long time before we got off the tracks. I’m not sure where it was that we got off.

he next thing I knew, we were headed down San Antonio Street. From far away we saw police cars flying through the streets. We knew someone back there had to have died. One police car was coming toward us. We turned our lights off, turned the corner, and parked.

edhead said
"Lie down!" I went down toward him, and he leaned toward me.

he cop car came
around the corner slowly. We saw his headlights, and we didn’t move.
He kept moving down the street. We stayed there for a few more
minutes, just in case he came back. He didn’t return, so Redhead
started up the car again. We started back down the road, headed
down San Antonio Street not too far from King Road. We were behind
another car when out of nowhere a police car came up to the car in
front of us. The police officer was flagging the car to stop in the middle of the street. Right away I leaned over and down, so he couldn’t see me.

e stopped
behind the car in front of us but couldn’t hear what the police was
telling the guy. Redhead then said, "Don’t move; here he comes."

he police car
moved up to ours. The street was dark and quiet. The cop car came
very close. As we waited there, it sounded as if the cop had his
head in our car. He asked, "Where are you coming from?"

e again started
driving down the street behind the other car. When we arrived at
Jackson Avenue on the east side, another police car raced by us.
Finally we were back at Robert’s house.

ll the other
guys were there waiting for us, except Steve, Isaac, and Phil. They
were in the car in front of us in the driveway when we left the
fight. Everyone else made it back. Ceasar had jumped in the GTO and
returned with my brother and the other guys.

he guys wanted
to see how bad I was hurt. Ceasar and I were the only ones injured.
We were telling each other how many cops we saw out there. Someone
said they knew someone had died. Everyone was talking a mile a
minute.

hat were we
going to do? We decided they would take me to the emergency room,
and someone else would take Ceasar to another hospital. We agreed
to say we had been at Robert’s house, and Ceasar and I became angry
at each other and started fighting. We would say I fell and hit my
head on a rock. A good story. But would it work? Everyone said we’d
try it so that at the hospital it wouldn’t be connected with the
big fight.

edhead agreed
to take me to the emergency room. We rushed into the car and told
everybody we’d see them later—we hoped.

s we drove down
Capitol Avenue, my head was still bleeding. I knew it was a big
wound. Back at Robert’s house, everyone looked at my head. They
told me it looked bad; they felt it would be necessary to sew me up
with a lot of stitches. By this time Redhead’s car seat was full of
blood.

e turned down
a side street to Jackson Avenue because we wanted to avoid all the
cop cars on the main streets. Things just didn’t look good again. I
had a feeling things weren’t going to end up too well that night.
We had been in a fight and hurt some guys pretty badly, and I was on
the way to the hospital.

hat was my
mother going to say? It seemed she had always trusted us, and we
were always doing bad things behind her back. My poor mom. I
dreaded her finding out what happened that night.

s we were
riding to the hospital, I wondered how I was going to tell them
what happened to me. Would they believe me? I had become a
pretty-skilled liar by that time.

e were now on
Bambi Lane; everything seemed to be cool. I wasn’t talking, just
thinking. Redhead wasn’t saying anything either. He was more than
likely thinking the same thing I was.

e were coming
up to Jackson Avenue, and out of nowhere lights appeared all over
the place. I turned to look behind us; there was a cop car following.
He was right on our bumper. I mean on our bumper! If he came any
closer, he would be pushing us.

edhead!
There’s a cop behind us!" I yelled as he looked in his-rear view
mirror.

know! I know!
Redhead answered, sounding alarmed.

looked across
the street on Jackson Avenue. There was Art’s car, the one Ceasar
was in earlier. The doors were open, lights were on, and four cop
cars were around it. Nobody was there, not the guys or the cops. T
hey had run out of gas in their stolen car and were pushing it.
When the guys saw the cops, they took off running through the field
behind Lee Matson School. The cops went after them on foot.

y this time
our car came to a stop, and we were surrounded by cop cars. We had
just made the turn to Jackson Avenue. In those days the freeway
wasn’t there. It was a big field. Everything was lit up with the
cops’ lights. An officer marched to my side of the car first.

K, where’s
Ceasar? the cop asked.

efore I could
say anything, he opened my door. As he opened it, I said,
"Who’s Ceasar?"

e pulled me
out of the car by my arm. "Where’s Ceasar?" he asked again.

ust then he
noticed the blood all over my head and down my back. "Hey! This
one is all full of blood!" he said to the other cop.

t that time
Redhead was being pulled from his side of the car. "What happened to you?"
the cop asked me, as he dragged me toward the front of the car.

y eyes met
Redhead’s; and since they already knew about Ceasar, I didn’t want
to say anything about getting into a fight with him. I replied
loudly enough so Redhead could hear me, "We were cruising down
Capitol Avenue, and these guys threw a bottle at us and told us to
pull over. We did, and this guy hit me over the head with a bar."

edhead was
being pulled to the back of the car; therefore, he couldn’t hear me
anymore. I hoped he heard what I said because I wasn’t going to
change my story.